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Sylvia Plath's use of blank verse and simile in "Last Words", along with iambic pentameter and hexameter creates a picturesque view of how she visualizes her ideal burial. The use of simile, in comparison to various subjects in the poem, paint a vivid picture of what Plath is trying to convey. Plath states, "I should sugar and preserve my days like fruit" (Plath, line 10). Another good example is, "I do not trust the spirit. It escapes like steam" (Plath, line 15). It is all in reference to her ultimate death. With the slight variation of iambic sounds, she drives her point home.
The use of enjambments further emphasize the meaning of certain areas of the poem. Notice how Plath uses enjambments in this example;
"I want to be looking at them when they come
Picking among the dumb minerals, the roots" (Plath, lines 4-5).
And in these lines as well,
"They stay, their warm particular lusters
Warmed by much handling. They almost purr"(Plath, lines 18-19).
The enjambments are usually followed by end-stopped lines. I copied these lines in poetic form to illustrate how Plath used enjambments to create descriptive elements in this particular poem.
Plath's use of blank verse is reminiscent of more traditional poets. Though there is no rhyme scheme to this particular piece, the use of iambic pentameter adds a certain structure. Ironically, in the poem, Plath makes reference to ancient burial methods which were customary in Egypt; they were a form of tradition for this ancient civilization. "They will roll me up in bandages, they will store my heart Under my feet in a neat parcel." (Plath, lines 23-24). You can also notice the blank verse in these lines,as well. Blank verse poetry was a traditional form of poetry largely used in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century works. You can't help but conclude that this poet was largely influenced by tradition in this poem.
With the various poetic elements used by Plath in "Last Words", we are taken on a journey through a topic somewhat taboo. Not many people want to discuss death, much less their own.
Poems are unique in that there are no set rules for how they are formatted (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). Poems may rhyme, or not. They can be presented in a narrative or lyrical format. The use of proper punctuation can be omitted such as periods, commas, or question marks (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). The use of punctuation or lack there of, brings into play the use of enjambment, which is another term for what is commonly known in poetry as run-on lines (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). If a poem is considered more proper and the author wants the reader to clearly understand how a line in the poem is read, the use of punctuation such as commas and periods are used to stress this point. This style is commonly known as end-stopped lines. (Kirszner
Moreover, this stanza is also considered an enjambment as referenced in the book. The “running-off of the sense from one line to another” allows the idea to continue beyond that one line without any punctuation. Additionally, it lets the reader think of one thing and then as one continues to read the following line, it surprises us with another idea. It also deepens the meaning of each line.
To that end, the overall structure of the poem has relied heavily on both enjambment and juxtaposition to establish and maintain the contrast. At first read, the impact of enjambment is easily lost, but upon closer inspection, the significant created through each interruption becomes evident. Notably, every usage of enjambment, which occurs at the end of nearly every line, emphasizes an idea, whether it be the person at fault for “your / mistakes” (1-2) or the truth that “the world / doesn’t need” (2-3) a poet’s misery. Another instance of enjambment serves to transition the poem’s focus from the first poet to the thrush, emphasizing how, even as the poet “[drips] with despair all afternoon,” the thrush, “still, / on a green branch… [sings] / of the perfect, stone-hard beauty of everything” (14-18). In this case, the effect created by the enjambment of “still” emphasizes the juxtaposition of the two scenes. The desired effect, of course, is to depict the songbird as the better of the two, and, to that end, the structure fulfills its purpose
Definition of enjambment is what “gives the writer an ability to restrain or to spur on the pace of the poem” (Oliver 74). I personally am not a fan of enjambment because I prefer forms – I like order and to know what to expect from a poem. Forms also sound more musical and auditory more appealing.
...oes hand in hand with the structure of the poem as well; bringing about a certain rhythm through punctuation and line breaks. It is this rhythm brings out the repetition and clash of elements especially with parentheses, which allows us to look at the element of starvation while considering the reaction of the press.
Plath writes in seven line stanzas. She uses a unique rhyme scheme that changes from in each stanza. Occasionally she isolates one line in order to annunciate its meaning. She also uses enjambment to help stress the meaning of certain lines. Plath also like to use metaphor and simile in her poem. Lines nine and ten she uses simile when she writes, “Like an eye between two white lids that will not shut. Stupid pupil, it has to take everything in”. She is stationary in her bed and almost doesn’t want to see everything anymore but she cannot hide what is going on around her.
In addition, these enjambments create a more rapid and frantic rhythm, which conveys the seriousness of Troilus's mental health. Together, these enjambments are influential in understanding his severity of depression throughout the poem.
a dash. Judith Farr believes that the dash seems to indicate that the poem is
They are devices used purposely to create a bigger picture to the reader and they are evident once read more than once. Rhetorical devices are devices such as repetition, parallel construction, and end or slant rhyme. Repetition and rhyme are two devices that can both be found within this poem. Rhetorical devices help to make a poem more dramatic and the message to become clearer to the reader. An example of repetition in this poem is the last two lines of each stanza being “These alone can ne’er bestow/Youth, and health, and Paradise.” Based upon this repetition, this makes it clear to the reader that these lines are of the upmost importance. These two lines are able to help the reader decipher the meaning of this poem. End rhymes are also present in this poem, meaning words at the end of sentences rhyme with each other. In this poem there is a pattern of every other word at the end of a line rhyming, for example, “Money taketh town and wall/Fort and ramp without a blow/Money moves the merchants all/While the tides shall ebb and flow;” Wall rhymes with all, while blow rhymes with flow. This is a constant rhyming pattern throughout the poem. Repetition and rhyming are two key elements to this poem and makes it easier for the reader to comprehend and
According to Dyne, “Plath borrowed the miracle of Lazarus, the myth of the phoenix, the hype of the circus, and the horror of the holocaust to prophesy for herself a blazing triumph over her feelings of tawdriness and victimization” (397). By using the title of this poem, Sylvia Plath creates an allusion. She refers to the biblical Lazarus, who Jesus raised from the dead. According to one source, “…like the Lazarus of the title, its persona miraculously survives each brush with death” (Maramarco 85). Within this poem, Plath also compares herself to appalling remnants from the Holocaust:“my skin / Bright as a Nazi lampshade / My right foot / A paperweight / My face a featureless, fine / Jew linen” (Rooney). Sylvia imagines that she is a primary victim of the horrific Holocaust just trying to survive day by
Normally, poem lines would end in a punctuation, like a comma or period for it to continue the sentence into the next line, or starting the next sentence on the next line. Instead, it has a couple of sentences that continues onto the next line without any pause or stop, this is known as enjambment. The poem also has a few new sentences that start, end, or pause in the middle of the lines, which is known as caesuras. Herrick uses enjambment and caesuras often throughout this poem.
Less than a week before her suicide, Plath wrote, "the woman is perfected" (qtd. in "Scenes"). In "Daddy," she was, in a sense, "perfecting" herself for death, but her desperate grasps at sanity ended in self-destruction. She proved herself that she could not be through with her problems. So, while the last line of this poem may seem like a statement of closure, it is better interpreted as a statement of capitulation. Plath was indeed through: She was through trying to overcome her distress, through loving her husband, through fighting with the memory of her father, and through living
Firstly, the poem is made out of a series of quintet stanzas. The consistent structure itself could imply stability and therefore power, too. Also, Plath uses different forms of figurative language to explore the theme and to communicate with the reader the relationship she had with her father. She commonly uses metaphors: from the very beginning she compares him to a ‘black shoe…in which I have lived like a foot’. This shows that she feels confined like a foot does in a shoe.
Death is a prevalent theme in the poetry of both Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson. They both examine death from varied angles. There are many similarities as well as differences in the representation of this theme in their poetry. Plath views death as a sinister and intimidating end, while Dickinson depicts death with the endearment of romantic attraction. In the poetry of Plath death is depicted traditionally, while Dickinson attributes some mysticism to the end of life.
Mtshali has used enjambment in this poem to create dramatic pauses after substantial comments such as;